Campbell files joint resolution to let Wyoming voters decide on abortion

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Following the Wyoming Supreme Court’s ruling this week striking down two 2023 abortion laws, Rep. Elissa Campbell, R-Casper, filed a joint resolution Thursday proposing a constitutional amendment that would prohibit abortion — sending the question directly to Wyoming voters.

“Wyoming is full of independent-minded people who don’t want their lives governed by a never-ending tug-of-war between politicians and courts,” Campbell said in a news release. “On an issue this personal, the people of Wyoming deserve a direct say. This is how we bring clarity and a durable answer from the voters.”

Wyoming voters last weighed in directly on abortion policy at the ballot box in 1994, when they rejected a citizen-led initiative that would have prohibited abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life was at risk.

The proposed amendment is modeled after the Life is a Human Right Act, one of two laws the court recently ruled violated the Wyoming Constitution’s protections for an adult’s health care decisions.

In its decision, the court indicated that if Wyoming residents want different constitutional language and clarity on what the state constitution protects, the path forward is a constitutional amendment adopted by voters.

“Whether someone is strongly pro-life, strongly pro-choice or somewhere in between, we should all agree on this: Wyoming families deserve certainty,” Campbell said in the release. “Our constitution is the people’s document. If Wyoming is going to set a permanent standard, it should be decided openly at the ballot box.”

A constitutional amendment must pass by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to appear on the ballot at the next general election, where it must then be approved by a majority of voters statewide.

The Legislature’s 2026 budget session convenes Feb. 9.

This story was published on Jan. 9, 2026.